A gallstone is a crystalline concretion formed within the gallbladder by accretion of bile components. These calculi are formed in the gallbladder, but may pass distally into other parts of the biliary tract such as the cystic duct, common bile duct, pancreatic duct, or the ampulla of Vater.

Gallstones are a valuable by-product of meat processing, fetching up to US$10–per–gram in their use as a purported antipyretic and antidote in the folk remedies of some cultures, particularly in China. The finest gallstones tend to be sourced from old dairy cows, which are called (yellow thing of oxen) in Chinese. Those obtained from dogs, called Gou-Bao (treasure of dogs) in Chinese, are also used today. Much as in the manner of diamond mines, slaughterhouses carefully scrutinize offal department workers for gallstone theft.









Had you going there for a minute

Wikipedia shows a gruelling image of loads of stones built up in a Gall Bladder. It makes me wonder if I have stones inside me :S

Alright alright kiore, move it to Social & Fun!

Paul1 wrote:Alright alright kiore, move it to Social & Fun!

Your wish is my command, tis done

My dad got rushed into hospital in the middle of the night in absolute agony when I was about 10. Turned out he had a gallstone the size of a chicken's egg. It was the biggest one they'd ever seen. He became a favourite with all the nurses in the place who all had to pay a visit to take a look at it. He's still got it.

No I haven't unfortunately. It's probably a bit smaller now, it was removed 27 years ago and bits flake off it. I wouldn't take my dad's example as anything to worry about by the way, if you were. He was a pretty exceptional case, and he would have been 50 at the time, many years in which to cultivate it. Too much brie, you see.

Thanks Koire

I can only guess that living in the wild, eating rather more healthy foods and exercising a lot more, people wouldn't normally suffer from gallstones.

That we humans stuff our faces with far too many cream cakes

Oh well, life is to be enjoyed anyway!

You got me!!

Usually, it's not the big ones that are problematic, but rather, the small gallstones. The biggger ones generally sit in the gallbladder and don't cause a lot of grief. However, small gallstones are able to migrate and move through the biliary system, often lodging in the cystic duct or common bile duct (especially where the latter narrows just before it enters the duodenum) and cause what we term "biliary colic"....intense friggin' pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, often accompanied by nausea.

Gallstones can also cause what's called cholecystitis - inflammation of the gallbladder. This can be quite serious and often needs surgical removal of the gallbladder (these days it's usually done laproscopically rather than in an open operation).

Ultrasound of the upper abdomen is the simplest, most cost effective and most accurate way of diagnosing gallstones.

This topic may be best suited to our medicine forum if the joke is over and people want to learn more about gallstones.

Never had a gallstone.

Kidneystones, however, are another matter. Had a 1 cm one in 2002 that was horrible -- they broke it up with shock waves.

I've since passed 3 that were about 1-2 mm -- the one last week hurt like hell coming down the urethra.

My dad was in absolute agony with his gallstone - he must have been, because normally wild horses would not drag him to the GP, let alone the hospital. Had to have his gallbladder removed, unfortunately in the days before they had refined the technique. Consequently he has a huge scar to go with his huge gallstone.